The second - and last - day of WellPlayed's HyperX Invitational and lots of great names will go home.
Day one blog: The winners bracket
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 |  Forsen |  Rdu |  |
| | |  Wuaschtsemme | Theude |
The opening game of Rdu/Trump is a one-sided affair. The Mayor’s Priest faces the Handlock of Rdu that just 3-0’d Reynad out of the tournament and starts fighting an uphill battle. What makes it even more awkward for the American is how he never draws a single Shadow Word: Death. Although he manages to squeeze a Mind Control and steal a Giant away from Rdu, what MYM’s ace has is just too much.
Game two is nothing of the sort. Right off the bat, Trump gets all the answers he needs and by T7, Rdu has lost two giants and two Twilight Drakes while Trump is up at 46 health. Yet all the life can’t save Trump as Rdu’s persistently throws more threats on the board. Once he draws all the removals with his mid-range minions, Rdu Faceless’s and snipes Trump’s Ragnaros, slaps his last Molten Giant on the board and finishes it from there.
Trump goes to his Zoo that brought him great success against Tides last night but he doesn’t get a repeat performance. An overcommitted board gets cleared by a Shadowflame which delivers the game to Rdu on a silver platter. With no resources to finish the match, Trump is out of the tournament and Rdu’s Warlock goes to 7-1 for this day.
Reynad chooses Miracle Rogues as his opener and lands right into its hard-counter – Handlock. The Tempo Storm founder tried to make things happen but can’t bring Rdu’s life total into lethal range, or keep a threat on the board. His 6/6 Van Cleef is Siphon’d Away and the game ends on T9 with a Leeroy/Faceless burst.
Game two is much closer as Reynad pulls out a control Warrior and beats Rdu down hard. However, the one-damage-off-lethal curse haunts Reynad again as Rdu’s 15 hit points keep him just right out of Grommash/Death’s Bite range. Reynad clears Warlock’s board and develops a Geddon on the field but Rdu answers it in time, develops his own board and slaps an uncontested Ragnaros that brings him the win.
Game three is painful to behold. On T5, Rdu enjoys a Mountain Giant and a taunted Ancheint Watcher. Reynad clears it barely but more giants come in the next turn, followed by more threats. Having run out of answers, Reynad concedes and Rdu blows salt at the camera as a final taunt. Â
AmazThose who tuned to the match between Amaz and Trump have hard times believing what’s happening on stream as the #1 player in the world loses three games in a row… to a Priest deck.
To blame are Trump’s fantastic openings in the first two games. Circles of Healing, Northshire Clerics and Wild Pyromancer fuel Trump’s hand, giving him enormous lead in this card-advantage match-up. The game two opener is especially brutal as a Cleric, Pyromancer, Injured Blademaster and double circle give the Mayor six cards and a solid board – an unsolvable situation for the Liquid member.
Game three once again sees Trump having a great start, having a Zombie Chow and a Dark Cultist to draw out Amaz’s removal and follow them up with a Blademaster/Circle combo. Amaz tries to fend off the aggression but with no Hex and lots of healing, the Blademaster persists and eats away at Amaz’s board. With uncontested Ragnaros on T8, Sylvanas on T9 and a Mind Control in hand, Trump has this game secured.Â
20:00 CET - Rdu vs 
TidesofTime
Stream is dead for the first game between Rdu and Tides so we tune in for game two to see Rdu’s Handlock struggling against Tides’ control Paladin. The leader of the European rankings fends off one taunter after another but Tides’ hand never runs out of threats. Safe behind his great wall, the Tempo Storm ace brings this to a tie.
Known for being an expert Miracle player, it is no surprise to see Rdu bring up the Rogue in the third game. Although it does seem going against so many taunts and heals is an uphill battle, the Romanian makes it work: he burns or saps away Tides’ minions until he draws into his finishers.
The same scenario repeats in the last game as well. Paired with a control Warrior, Rdu dishes out a lot of early damage and follows it up with a plentiful Auctioneer bounty. Tides manages to weather the storm to some extent as Rdu’s hand eventually runs dry but a Leeroy topdeck is exactly what the MYM player needs to eliminate the WellPlayed champion.
It’s a very strong game start to finish for Forsen as he faces Amaz in a Priest mirror opener. The Swede never lets the tempo go and populates the board wall to wall, forcing Amaz to go for a massive Auchenai/Circle play around T10. It doesn’t change anything though – Forsen continues to slap more 4-power minions like Cabal Shadow Priest and Chillwind Yeti to pressure the Liquid player. A triple Holy Fire in his hand further helps for the checkmate.
Great Thoughtsteal draws swing the game in Forsen’s favor once again in a Paladin versus Priest match-up. Having Consecration and Equality from Amaz’s deck as well as his own Pyromancer give Forsen the power to clear the board in whatever way he wishes, while Guardian of Kings and Lay on Hands give him almost endless heals.
However, Forsen’s steady card draw moves throughout the game come to haunt him as he enters fatigue good 8 cards before Amaz does. The Liquid player knows it – he only has to weather the storm and he wins this 22 minute game.
Forsen’s Mage plan to use secrets to develop a board advantage and out-tempo his opponent goes down the drain very quick. The Swede exhausts most of his resources but by T10 Amaz is still on 25 hit points, with 7 cards in hand and enough taunters to protect him from anything. The series goes to 2-1.
Control Warriors are not really known for their T7 kills but Forsen somehow does it. His T3 Frothing Berserker – a minion not really favored in many control Warriors – grows to a sizeable 9/3 and then to a 3/2 after it’s Peacekeeper’d to halve Amaz’s life. With no room to stabilize, Amaz concedes and the game is tied.
This puts Forsen against Amaz’s Shaman in a weak match-up for the Warrior. One turn after another, Amaz shows why that is – the Shaman board grows unrestrained and without a Brawl, Whirlwind or Geddon, Forsen is overwhelmed out of the tournament.
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